Blogito ergo sum! Actually, as N.T. Wright averred, "'Amor, ergo sum:' I am loved, therefore I am." Among other things, I am a Roman Catholic deacon. This is a public cyberspace in which I seek to foster Christian discipleship in the late modern milieu in the diakonia of koinonia and in the recognition that "the Eucharist is the only place of resistance to annihilation of the human subject."

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Saturday, December 8, 2007

Immaculate Conception

Today is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. The Immaculate Conception of our Blessed Mother was declared a dogma of the faith in 1854 by Pope Pius IX with the promulgation of his Constitution Ineffabilis Deus. This dogma holds that Miriam of Nazareth, the Mother of God, "in the first instance of her conception, by a singular privilege and grace granted by God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human race, was preserved exempt from all stain of original sin." This does not mean she was conceived, like her Son, in an extraordinary manner, but in the manner that human beings are normally conceived. Tradition tells us that the names of her parents are Sts. Anne and Joachim. The Immaculate Conception means that she was free from all sin, including original sin (i.e., she was born in a state of original grace, like our first human parents). But, again, unlike her Son, she was not sinless in and of herself, but by "singular privilege and grace".

In addition to deductive theology, Mary's Immaculate Conception was revealed in a rather profound way, not to a bishop, a priest, or a theologian, but to a simple peasant girl who had difficulty learning her catechism, St. Bernadette Soubrious in Lourdes, France, a town at the foot of the Pyrenees mountains, a range that constitutes both the geographical and political border between France and Spain. The apparitions began on 11 February 1858. The Blessed Virgin Mary Conceived without sin is the patroness of the United States. Our national shrine, located in Washington, D.C. is the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

In addition to our usual Sunday obligation, today is a holy of day of obligation. So, take a break from all the seasonal madness and attend Mass, pray a decade of the rosary, the Joyful Mysteries, lifting up all manner of intentions and concerns to the intercession of our Blessed Mother, who is full of grace.

3 comments:

I saw this a bit late - about 1:30 PM. We had a visiting priest at Mass last Sunday who didn't do announcements. We didn't read the bulletin. And, nothing was said at religious ed either Tuesday or Wednesday night. And we had an minor ice storm. I did get to Sunday vigil, and yes, I know I need to go tomorrow (weather permitting). Oi.

About Me

I am husband and Dad to six lovely children. I am also a Roman Catholic deacon of the Diocese of Salt Lake City. I married in 1993, became a Dad for the first time in 1994 and most recently in 2011 (quite a spread). I was was ordained in 2004. I am assigned to The Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City. I am a graduate of the University of Utah and the Institute in Pastoral Ministry at St. Mary's University of Minnesota.

Madeleine Delbrêl

"We fashion the immortal being we are through our choices. Through our choices we bring the man in us to the fullness of life or to the worst of human suffering. At the hour of his death each human being has become either a person who will live with God forever, or who will be without God forever" Madeleine Delbrêl

St. Paul

"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect" (Rom. 12:1-2)